Switched Reluctance Motor

By Prof. A N Patel Electrical Engineering Department Institute of Technology Nirma University.

Which Motor?
The proliferation of new ideas, materials and components creates many opportunities. It is the motor that determines the characteristic of electric drive. Motor determines the requirement of converter circuit and control techniques.

Evolution of Motors Classical /Conventional Motors: DC commutator, synchronous and induction motors are known as classical motors.

Essentially constant torque Operate from pure dc or ac supply Can start and run without controller

Evolution of Motors (contd.)

Non classical/Advanced/Special Motors: Switched reluctance motor Permanent magnet brushless DC motor Permanent magnet DC commutator motor Permanent magnet synchronous motor Doubly salient permanent magnet motor
Enhanced performance Considerable reduction in size High speed range Electronic controllers are mandatory Costly

Evolution of Motors

Evolution of Motors

Evolution of Motors

PM Synchronous Motor

Introduction Variable Reluctance Motor (VRM) is often referred to as Switched Reluctance motor to indicate the combination of a VRM and the Switching Inverter required to drive it. This term SRM is more popular in literature. SRM is perhaps the simplest of electrical machines Since 1969, a variable inductance motor has been proposed for variable speed applications. The origin of this motor can be traced back to 1842, but the reinvention has been possible due to the advent of inexpensive, high power witching devices. It consists of a stator with excitation windings and a magnetic rotor with saliency. Rotor conductors are not required because the torque is produced by the tendency of the rotor to align with the stator produced flux wave in such a fashion as to maximize the stator flux linkage that result from a given applied stator current

Construction
The SRM is a doubly-salient, singly-excited machine with independent windings of the stator. It consists of a stator with excitation windings. There is no winding or permanent magnet on rotor Stator windings on diametrically opposite poles are connected in series or parallel to form one phase of the motor. Several combinations of stator and rotor poles are possible, such as 6/4 (6 stator poles and 4 rotor poles), 8/4, 10/6, 12/6 etc.

Construction (contd.)

SRM Configurations Depends on:

Number of stator/rotor poles Number of phases Number of repetitions Connections of the stator windings

Common Configurations:
6/4 (6 stator poles/4 rotor poles), 3 phases, 1 rep. 8/6, 4 phases, 1 rep.

Principle of operation
The rotor is aligned whenever diametrically opposite stator poles are excited. In a magnetic circuit, the rotating member prefers to come to the minimum reluctance position at the instance of excitation. While two rotor poles are aligned to the two stator poles another set of rotor poles is out of alignment, with respect to a different set of stator poles. Then this set of stator poles is excited to bring the rotor poles into alignment. Like wise by sequentially switching the currents in to the stator windings, the rotor is rotated.

The movement of the rotor, hence the production of torque and power involves switching of currents into stator windings when there is a variation of reluctance. Therefore, this variable speed motor drive is referred to as a SRM Drive.

Principle of Operation ( contd.)

Switching of current from phase1 to phase2 results in rotation in anticlockwise direction.

Advantages
Windings are on the stator only and no windings or magnets on the rotor, thus saving material on the rotor. The windings are concentric around a pole, leading to a greater manufacturing economy compared to distributed windings on ac machines or even dc machines. The concentrating windings also reduce the endturn build-up, thus minimizing the inactive part of the materials resulting in lower resistance and hence copper losses compared to the distributed winding structure of other machines. The rotor is the smallest of any machine and has the lowest moment of inertia, thus giving a large acceleration rate for the motor. It is a brushless machine and therefore is superior from maintenance point of view compared to other machines. Because the rotor does not have windings or magnets, it is highly mechanically robust and therefore, naturally suitable for high-speed operation. The major sources of heat are on the stator. So cooling is simpler as stator is easier to access than the rotor. The rotor losses are much smaller compared to the stator losses. Skewing is not required to decrease cogging torque or crawling torque as this machine does not produce cogging or crawling torque.

Advantages (contd.)
As the windings are electrically separate from each other and as they have negligible mutual coupling, electrical fault in one phase does not affect other phases, in general. Such a feature is unique to the SRM.

The induced emf is a function of the phase current. Hence, when there is no current in the winding, there is no induced emf in SRM and a phase winding fault cannot be sustained if the input current is cutoff. Such is not the case for induction or PMSM and BLDC motors. This leads to higher reliability in an SRM compared to any other electrical machine.
The freedom to choose any number of phases is inherent in the SRM and leads itself to high reliability if one or more phases fails during operation. Note that all the phases are electrically independent.

The machine is an inherent position transducer, as its inductance is uniquely dependent on rotor position and excitation current. During inactive period of each phase winding, the rotor position can be extracted by measuring the inductance. Such a feature is difficult to exploit with induction and permanent magnet synchronous machines as there is no inactive period for the windings.

Disadvantages
Torque ripple is high but can be reduced by controlling the overlapping phase currents .
Acoustic noise is high, But its causes are studied and some recommendation have resulted in considerable noise reduction compared to the first-generation machines. Friction and windage losses are high due to salient rotor at high speed. They can be reduced by making the rotor surface smooth by filling in the rotor interpolar space with inert material.

The SRM requires an electronic power converter to run and does not have line-start capability Position information is mandatory to control the SRM Radial forces are high at aligned positions and minimum at unaligned position.

Applications
Plotter drive: HP developed and uses SRM as a servo drive in plotter that produces 0.1275 N.m. at 4000 rpm. Door actuator: It is a position control system and high volume application. Besam produces 12/8 pole motor delivering 5 N.m. at 3000rpm. Hand power tools ,Fan , Pumps Drives for freezers and refrigerators Automotive applications Under water marine drive applications Aerospace applications: 270000 50000 rpm. Centrifuge for medical applications: Centrifuge for medical applications : Beckman Instruments, markets a high-speed SRM centrifuge drive system. It is a three-phase, 6/4 pole combination delivering 2.5 kW at 30,000 rpm.

Inductance Profile

Aligned inductance is inductance offered when stator poles and rotor poles are in aligned condition. It is the maximum inductance offered by phase because reluctance is minimum when poles are aligned. Minimum inductance is unaligned inductance when stator and rotor poles are unaligned. It is the minimum inductance offered by phase because reluctance is maximum. Current pulse must coincide with rising inductance period for motoring action.

Equivalent Circuit
The applied voltage to a phase is equal to the sum of the resistive voltage drop and the rate of the flux linkage.

Rs is the resistance per phase. is the flux linkage per phase, = L(, i)i . L is the inductance dependent on rotor position and current.

In this equation, the three terms on the right-hand side represent the resistive voltage drop, inductive voltage drop, and induced emf respectively, and the result is similar to the series excited dc motor voltage equation.

Equivalent Circuit (contd.)

Induced emf, Constant of emf,

Equivalent circuit is derived from voltage and emf equations.

Equivalent Magnetic Circuit Aligned Condition

Pole base and arc shaping of the SRM

Magnetic equivalent circuit assuming half symmetry

Rrp = Rotor pole reluctance Rry = Rotor core reluctance per side Rsy = Stator back iron reluctance per side

Equivalent Magnetic Circuit ( contd.) Aligned Condition

MMF ,

Aligned Flux ,

Aligned Inductance,

Equivalent Magnetic Circuit (contd.) Unaligned Condition

MMF ,

Unaligned Inductance,

Flux linkages vs. stator current ( Vs i )

The area enclosed by OABCO denotes the output mechanical energy of the motor for one stroke.

Electromechanical Energy Conversion

The electromechanical energy conversion theory allows the representation of the electromagnetic force or torque in terms of device variables, such as the currents and the displacement of the mechanical systems. An electromechanical system consists of an electric system, a mechanical system, and a means whereby the electric and mechanical systems can interact.

Electromechanical Energy Conversion

Consider the block diagram depicted below.
Electric System

Coupling Field

Mechanic System

WE
Energy supplied by an electric source

We

WeL +
Energy losses of the electric system. Basically, I2R

WeS
Energy stored in the electric o magnetic field

Energy transferred to the coupling field by the electric system

Electromechanical Energy Conversion

WM = Wm + WmL
Energy losses of the mechanical system

WmS
Energy stored in the moving member and compliance of the mechanical system

Energy supplied by a mechanical source

Energy transferred to the coupling field from the mechanical system

The energy transferred to the coupling field can be represented by

WF
Total energy transferred to the coupling field

We
Energy transferred to the coupling field by the electric system

Wm
Energy transferred to the coupling field from the mechanical system

WF

Wf
Energy stored in the electric system

WfL
Energy dissipated as heat (I2R)

Electromechanical Energy Conversion

The electromechanical systems obey the law of conservation of energy.
WF = Wf + WfL = We + Wm

Energy Balance in an Electromechanical System

WeS

Wf

WmS

WE

WeL

WfL

WmL

WM

Electromechanical Energy Conversion

If the losses are neglected, we will obtain the following formula,
WF = We + Wm
Energy transferred to the coupling field from the mechanical system Energy transferred to the coupling field by the electric system

Torque Equation
When current is passed through the phase winding rotor tends to align with stator poles to achieve minimum reluctance position. Produced torque is known as reluctance torque.

Elementary reluctance motor

Torque Equation (contd.)

Instantaneous Torque,

W is co-energy,

= Li if saturation is neglected

Field energy and Co-energy

Torque Equation( contd.)

T=1/2 i2 dL/d N.m. The torque is proportional to the square of the phase current. As a result, the torque depends only on the magnitude of the phase currents and not on the polarity. Thus, the currents supplied can be unidirectional i.e. bidirectional currents are not required. This unidirectional current requirement has a distinct advantage in that only one power switch is required for control of current in the phase winding. Such a feature greatly reduces the number of power switches in the converter and thereby makes the drive economical. The direction of rotation can be reversed by changing the sequence of stator excitation which is a simple operation. A generating action is made possible with unipolar current due to its operation on the negative slope of the inductance profile. Due to these features, this machine is suitable for four-quadrant operation with converter.

Torque Equation ( contd.)

Since the torque is proportional to the square of the current, this machine resembles a dc series motor. Hence it has a good starting torque. Torque and speed control is achieved with converter control. This machine requires a controllable converter for its operation and cannot be operated directly from a 3-phase supply. Hence for constant speed applications, this motor drive is expensive in comparison to induction and synchronous motors. Because of its dependence, on a power a power converter for its functioning, this motor drive is an inherently variable-speed motor drive system. These torque zeros can be seen to occur at rotor positions where all the stator phases are simultaneously at a position of either maximum or minimum inductance. Since the torque depends on the derivative of inductance with respect to angular position, this simultaneous alignment of maximum and minimum inductance points necessarily results in zero net torque.

Torque Equation ( contd.) Figure shows a 6/4 SRM from which we see that a fundamental feature of the 6/4 machine is that no such simultaneous alignment of phase inductances is possible. As a result, this machine does not have any zero torque positions. This is a significant point because it eliminates the possibility that the rotor might get stuck in one of these positions at stand still, requiring that it be mechanically moved to a new position before it can be started.

Torque Equation ( contd.) In case of SRM, with Ps stator poles and Pr rotor poles, if the ratio Ps / Pr or Pr / Ps is an integer, there will be zero-torque positions. For example for 6/4 machine, the ratio is 1.5 and hence there will be no zero-torque positions. However, the ratio is 2.0 for 6/3 machine and there will be zero torque positions .

Selection of No of Phases Selection of number of phases is dependent on the following. Starting Capability: A single phase machine can not start if the rotor and the stator poles are aligned. It usually requires a PM on the stator at an intermediate position to the stator poles to keep the rotor poles at an unaligned position. Directional Capability: Requirements of unidirectional or bidirectional operation dictates the minimum number of stator phases. Reliability: Higher number of phases means higher reliability because a failure of one or more phases will still allow the running of the machine with the remaining healthy phases. This is very important for critical applications like aircraft generator in a defense mission, actuator in nuclear power plants and icebreakers for research mission.

Selection of No of Phases ( contd.) Power density: A higher number of phases tends to give higher power density. Efficient high speed operation: Efficiency is enhanced by reducing the core loss at high-speed by decreasing the number of phases and lowering the number of switching per revolution. Number of Switches: Cost of converter power switches, gate drivers and logic power supplies depend on number of phases. Stator Frequency: Increasing the rotor poles increases the stator frequency in proportion, resulting in to more core losses and provides greater time for the rise and fall of the current, produces higher copper losses and larger phase conduction overlap.

Selection of Poles It is preferred to have the ratio between stator and rotor poles be a non-integer. Common pole combinations are given in table.

Stator 6 Rotor 4

Poles 8 12 6 8

12 10

Limiting factors in the poles selection are the number of converter switches and their associated cost of gate drivers and logic power supplies. For a machine having maximum speed of rm rad /sec, stator frequency for a phase is (rm/2) Pr Hz. Increasing rotor poles increases frequency resulting in higher core losses. Cost of production rises with number of poles due to increased winding insertion cost and terminal cost.

Selection of Pole Arcs

Following factors need to be considered during the selection of the stator and the rotor pole arcs: (1) Self starting requirements (2) Shaping of static torque vs. rotor position characteristics

This requirements can be incorporated in design by computing minimum pole arcs to achieve self starting. In addition , an upper limit is placed on overlap and rotor pole arcs.

Selection of Pole Arcs ( contd.)

Minimum Pole Arcs For Self starting

o is overlap angle

Minimum Pole Arcs For Self starting (contd.) Mechanical rotor pole pitch, Phase shift between successive stator phase inductances,

For the continuous starting torque requirement the overlap angle denoted as o should be less than or equal to zero;

Selection of Pole Arcs (contd.)

Equal rotor and stator pole arc (s = r ) :

Current takes more time to fall to zero from operating value due to high inductance of motor. If current continues beyond +ve slope then ve torque is produced because there is no zero slope region. Current must be turned off before 2.

Selection of Pole Arcs (contd.) Rotor pole arc greater than stator pole arc ( r s ) :

-Ve torque zone is eliminated with dead zone(3 to 2). Precise calculation of fall angle f is not required. Operational simplicity is obtained.

Selection of Pole Arcs (contd.) Effect of pole arcs on torque generation for same peak current

r = s

r > s

Selection of Pole Arcs (contd.)

By advancing the turn-on angle of the current, peak current could be maintained during the entire positive torque-producing region with r > s. This will increase the average torque produced in the machine much more than that of an SRM with equal stator and rotor pole arcs. This is an immense advantage both in steady-state and transient operating conditions. Turn-on and turn-off are advanced in both cases, so as not to produce any negative torque. Even though the torque produced in case 2 (i.e., with r > s) is greater than in case 1 with r = s. Elimination of negative torque generation reduces the torque ripples and hence the audible noise generation. Given all these factors, it can be seen that it is very advantageous to have the rotor pole arc greater than the stator pole arc. The upper limit on rotor pole arc, r = s + fr fr is the current fall angle

Advance Turn On and Turn off Instances may arise when fr could be as much as 50% of the stator pole arc or even even higher. It is not advantageous from view point of increasing iron weight and volume to keep increasing rotor pole arc to satisfy the elimination of negative torque region. The other alternative is advanced current commutation in machine phases. It is likely to reduce average torque.

Effect off Stator and Rotor Pole Arcs

Effect of Stator and Rotor Pole Arcs (contd.) Comparison of Various Designs

Slightly skewed rotor reduces the noise

Effect of Rotor Pole Arc Variation

Torque profiles at various rotor pole arcs with stator pole arc of 20.2

Effect of Rotor Pole Arc Variation ( contd.)

Flux density plot of the motor for a rotor outer pole arc of 28 with stator pole arc at 20.2 and at 10 A phase current.

Effect of Rotor Pole Arc Variation ( contd.)

Inductance profiles at different rotor pole arcs with stator pole arc at 20.2

Effect of Rotor Pole Arc Variation ( contd.)

Variation of aligned and unaligned inductances at different rotor outer pole arcs with stator pole arc at 20.2

Effect of Rotor Pole Arc Variation ( contd.)

Average and ripple torque at various rotor pole arcs keeping the stator pole arc to the original value of 20.2

Selection of Pole Base Shaping of torque profile is possible with different width at tip and base of stator poles. Variation of such width on rotor poles has little effect on torque profile. Variation of width of pole varies reluctance of circuit. Reluctance decreases with increase in base width. Decrement in reluctance will establish more flux in circuit. Increase in flux increases torque while at same time increases inductance. This effect is more pronounced near aligned position.

Pole base and arc shaping of the SRM.

Selection of Pole Base ( contd.)

Figure shows the effect of varying stator pole base width on phase inductance and phase torque. Torque ripple is reduced. In recent time, efforts at current and hence torque control are becoming prominent over approaches using machine design. Hybrid method of both pole shaping and torque control using modern technique will enhance SRM drive performance to suit high performance applications.

Special Pole Shapes

Slanting stator poles

As rotor pole moves from unaligned to aligned condition, air- gap decrease (case (a)) or increase (case (b)). Motor with non-circular stator pole face gives higher average torque at cost of high torque ripple.

Special Pole Shapes ( contd.)

Static torque profiles of the normal motor and also of the motor having flatted top rotor poles for the phase current of 10 A. Average torque for normal motor = 9.41 Nm Average torque for motor having flat topped rotor = 3.42 Nm

Effect of Air Gap on Torque Considering a linear magnetic characteristics of the machine, the electromagnetic torque for a pair of poles is given by,

Usual range of the ratio between unaligned and aligned inductance as :

Treating this as a constant k1 , the torque is given by,

Aligned inductance,

Effect of Air Gap on Torque ( contd.) Reluctance of air gap ,

where, lg is air gap length, D is bore diameter and L is stack length

Combining above Equations the electromagnetic torque is derived as:

Remarks:
Smaller the air gap the larger the torque produced. Aligned inductance is inversely proportional to the air gap length. When dc link voltage is not sufficient to maintain the desired current in the machine phase either bore diameter, stack length or turns per phase is decreased individually or simultaneously to make aligned inductance to an acceptable level. Manufacturing tolerance , uneven pull on the rotor

Measurement of Inductance The design and successful development of an SRM are dependent on the inductance profile of the motor. The measurement technique is based on the voltage equation of the SRM in terms of the phase current and flux linkages, (t).

where v(t) is the applied voltage and Rs is the resistance per phase

Rotor is locked for these measurements in each position.

Measurement of Inductance ( contd.) inductance is a function of the fixed rotor position and the currenti(t) and therefore should be denoted rightly as L (I (t), ). This experiment has to be repeated for various fixed rotor positions ranging from the aligned to unaligned position. This is sufficient for the evaluation of instantaneous ectromagnetic torque for a given current profile as a function of rotor position. The manner in which the flux linkages are obtained is very crucial to the accuracy of the results. Instrumenting the applied voltage and phase current for evaluating the flux linkages by software integration eliminates the hardware-based instrumentation errors.

Measurement of Inductance ( contd.)

Variation of flux linkage and inductance with rotor position

Average Torque
The area between two curves is calculated and is denoted as Wm. Wm is the work done per stroke of the machine.

Flux linkage vs. current for aligned and unaligned rotor positions.

Energy available to be converted in to mechanical energy is equal to area Wm.

Average Torque (contd.)

In one revolution each phase conducts as many strokes as there are rotor poles, so that there are qNr strokes per revolution. Area Wm represents maximum available energy for conversion. Obviously T/i ratio will be enhanced if area between aligned and unaligned curves is maximized. Ideally this requires: The largest possible unsaturated aligned inductance. The smallest possible unaligned inductance The highest possible saturation flux density

Average Torque ( contd.)

where Ps is the number of stator poles and Pr is the number of rotor poles.

Avg. Torque

Avg.Power
where m is the rotor speed in rad /sec.

Converters
Torque is independent of polarity of current Normally SRM drives require one switch per phase. This is contrary to AC motor drives where two switches per phase are required. Phase winding is always in series with switch. In case of shoot through fault inductance of motor limits rate of rise of current and provides time to initiate protecting relaying to isolate fault. The phases of SRM are independent. Negligible mutual coupling results in to complete independent control of each phase. Lack of mutual coupling requires careful handling of stored energy. Magnetic field energy has to be provided with path during commutation period otherwise it will result in excessive voltage across winding and hence on semiconductor switch leading to their failure. The energy could be free wheeled or returned to source. It is partially dissipated in machine winding. All converter topologies assume that a dc voltage source is available from input. DC source may be from battery or from rectifier with filter.

Asymmetric Converter

Only one phase is considered. One switch per phase is required. Turning on of T1 and T2 will energize the phase winding. T1 and T2 will be turned off when current rises above commanded/reference value. Stored energy in winding will keep current in same direction until it is depleted. D1 and D2 will become forward biased leading to recharging of source. This will decrease the current. Minimum voltage rating of device is equal to maximum of dc link voltage.

Asymmetric Converter (contd)

Ip is the desired current for motoring. Ia* is compared with actual current Ia and current error is processed through hysteresis controller with band of i. When error exceeds - i the switches are turned off. At that time diodes come in to picture and voltage across phase is then negative and equal to source voltage. During turn on and turn off of switches winding experiences twice rate of change of DC link voltage, resulting in higher deterioration of insulation. This control strategy puts more ripples in to link capacitor, thus reducing its life and also increasing switching losses. This can be ameliorated with other strategy.

Asymmetric Converter (contd.)

Stored energy in winding is effectively circulated in itself by turning off T2 only. D1 will become forward biased when T2 will be turned off. Current will continue to flow through T1- winding D1. Voltage across winding becomes zero if drops are neglected. Current will reduce slowly. This fact limits switching frequencies. When current command ( Ia*) goes to zero, both T1 and T2 are turned off. Now voltage across winding is Vdc as long as diodes conduct and thereafter voltage is zero. Minimum voltage rating of device is equal to maximum of dc link voltage. It requires two switches and two diodes per phase, resembling conventional ac motor drives.

Split DC Supply Converter

One switch per phase. Two identical capacitors are required. Phase A is energized by turning on T1. The current circulates through T1- phase A- C1. When T1 is turned off, current will continue to flow through phase A - C2- D2. C2 is being charged up and hence the stored energy in phase A is depleted quickly. Similar operation follows for phase B.

Split DC Supply Converter

Derating the supply dc voltage. A hysteresis current controller with a window of i is assumed. The phase voltage is Vdc /2 when T1 is on, when T2 is off with a current established in phase A, the phase voltage is Vdc/2. switch voltage rating at least equal to the dc link voltage. For balancing the charge across the dc link capacitors, the number of machine phases has to be even.

Bifilar Winding Type Converter

One transistor and one diode per phase. Regenerating the stored magnetic energy to the source is achieved by having a bifilar winding with opposite polarity. Phase A is energized when T1 is on. Turning off of T1 will deenergize phase A. Turning off of T1will induce emf in winding of such polarity that D1will be forward biased. Current will circulate through D1winding- source. Energy is transferred from machine winding to the source.

Bifilar Winding Type Converter

During current turn-off, the applied voltage across the bifilar secondary winding is equal to the dc link voltage . During current turn-off, voltage across the bifilar winding is equal to dc link voltage. Voltage reflected into the main winding is dependent upon the turns ratio of the windings.

Voltage across switch T1,

VT 1 = Vdc + aVdc = (1 + a)Vdc where a is turn ratio. Additional winding is required and such a form of winding is not economical for large motors. Bifilar windings require additional slot volume, reducing the power density of the SRM.

C-Dump Converter

T1 is turned on to energize phase A.

Stored energy is partially diverted to the capacitor Cd and fed back to source. Minimum switches allowing independent phase current control. Additional losses in the machine, Tr , Lr, and Dr, thereby decreasing the efficiency of motor drive.

Mode 1: T1 On and Tr Off

The dc link voltage supplies the magnetizing energy to the motor winding in this mode.

T1 and Tr Both On and Then Off

The energy recovery switch (Tr ) is turned on after T1 starts conducting. Energy is transferred to source from Cd through Tr and inductor. Capacitor is charged when T1 is off.

Phase Current Commutation

Current in the machine phase has to be decreased rapidly to zero. During this time, the switch T1 is turned off and the energy in the machine partially transferred to the capacitor Cd. During this mode, the voltage across the capacitor,Cd increases. Current decays as the voltage difference between Vo and Vdc is decreased.

T1 Off and Tr On

This mode arises when the current in the phase is controlled by turn-off of T1 while Tr is on, transferring energy from Cd to the dc source. This mode is a combination of modes 2 and 4.

Closed Loop Control

The fact that the machine inductance is not only a function of the rotor but also the excitation current. It complicates the development of control strategies for SRM drive systems. Classifying the control requirement as low or high performance based on torque ripple and speed of response specification, it may be found that a majority of the applications fall into the low performance category. Only a small fraction of the applications or a small fraction of the motor drives required demand high performance. The heart of any motor drives control system is current control. For the high-performance current controller design, factors such as mutual coupling of the phases and nonlinearity of the system are included one at a time. Multiphase switching is mandatory for minimization of torque ripple and to deliver high and quickly responsive torque performance. With control of torque, speed control becomes a simple task. Analogous to other motor drives.

Closed Loop Control

Torque Ripple
Torque Ripple: The torque ripple is defined as the difference between the maximum and minimum instantaneous torque expressed as a percentage of the average torque during steady state operation.

Origin of Torque Ripple

Torque pulsations are inherent in SRMs due to the doubly salient structure of the machine. The reluctance principle for torque production is utilized in these machines, where the phases operate independently and in succession. The machine torque is essentially defined by the nonlinear phase torqueanglecurrent characteristics and the magnetization of the phases. The magnetization pattern of the individual phases together with the characteristics of the motor dictates the amount of torque ripple during operation. The basic difference in torque production mechanisms between the SRM and other conventional dc or ac machines the dependency of the mechanism on the rotor position. In conventional ac or dc machines, the torque is produced by the mutual interaction of two magneto motive (MMF) forces created by the armature flux and field flux. In dc machines, the two MMFs are constant and the commutators and brushes maintain the orthogonality between them.

Reduction of Torque Ripple Approaches to reduce the torque ripple Modification in Magnetic Design Modification in Electronic Based Control Modification in Magnetic Design The machine designers can reduce the torque pulsations by changing the stator and rotor pole structures. Majority of torque ripple occurs in phase overlap region, where torque producing responsibility is commutated from one phase to another. By increasing number of poles, torque ripple can be minimized.

Reduction of Torque Ripple Modification in Electronic Based Control The electronic approach is based on optimizing the control parameters. It includes control of supply voltage, turn-on and turn-off angles, and current level. The minimization of torque ripple through electronic control may lead to a reduction in the average torque. The phase conduction period can be divided in to four intervals, namely, magnetization, chopping, natural commutation and forced commutation.

Acoustic Noise and Its Control Vibration and the resulting acoustic noise in SRMs have generated intense interest from the time they became commercially competitive with dc and ac drives. The need for the smallest air gap to maximize torque and power output, fewer poles (say, 6/4 or 8/6), and uneven machining or punching of diametrically opposite poles, which created uneven magnetic pull in the radial direction, exacerbated the problem of acoustic noise. In addition to these manufacturing tolerances and magnetic shapes, converter- and controller-related events, such as the drastic variation in rate of fall of current in the machine phases by applying dc source voltage of negative polarity, resulted in immense radial vibrations. Negative voltage is applied to turn off the current faster to avoid generating torque of opposite polarity. An understanding of many of these factors developed in the last few years led to many ameliorative measures in the design of the SRM and in its control.

Sources of Acoustic Noise

Some of the sources of noise and techniques for its cancellation or mitigation are in contrast to ac machines with distributed windings on the stator and rotor or distributed windings on the stator and permanent magnets on the rotor. The stringent regulations governing noise in electrical machines require a careful consideration of all possible noise sources and their mitigation methods. Noise sources can be divided into four broad categories:
Magnetic Mechanical Aerodynamic Electronic

Classification of Noise Sources

Noise Mitigation Techniques

Magnetic Noise Mitigation Mechanical Noise Mitigation Aerodynamic Noise Mitigation Electronic Noise Mitigation Active Noise Cancellation Techniques